Page 20 of The Dragon's Dream Mate (Savage Shifters Special Ops 3)

“Not doing too bad, huh?” he asked, getting close to my face. It was all I could do not to choke from the stench.

“I was just getting started,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “So, are you going to buy some candy?”

The guy on the couch hoisted himself up. He looked like more of a crackhead than the other two. He was rail-thin, and his pupils were huge. His head looked like he had been losing his hair in patches.

I smiled. “Sir, you look like you could use some candy bars. You are super skinny,” I said. “I always wanted to be skinny when I was a little girl, but now, I guess, I’m happy to be me.”

He looked me up and down and licked his lips.Didn’t creepy men have any other moves?

“You look perfect to me,” he said.

“Thanks, Mister, but I already have a boyfriend,” I said, still trying to maintain my innocent tone.

I could just imagine Lucian listening to this in the van. The other guys must have him in a straight jacket double seatbelted into the seat with a lock holding him in.

The skinny guy said, “Where do you go to school again?”

“Jefferson High,” I answered.

“Do you know Kara Lorenzo?” he asked.

I pretended to think for a minute. “No, the name doesn’t sound familiar,” I answered. “But I have an afterschool job taking care of my neighbor, who is an old woman. I don’t really know too many people outside of my classes, and even then, I don’t know most of those.”

I held my breath, hoping that he wouldn’t say that she was a cheerleader and his daughter.

He looked at me for a minute and said, “Good, you don’t know her. She doesn’t exist.”

I looked at him and asked, “Then why would you ask me if I know her?”

The other guy hastily answered, “Wayne is a practical joker.”

“Strange joke,” I said. “Is there a punchline I missed?”

“No,” said the short man. “He’s an idiot.”

“Listen, it’s been great talking to you guys. But I have to get going. I have a lot of candy bars to sell, and then Mrs. Conner will be waiting for me to make her dinner,” I said.

The men crowded against me. “I don’t think you need to go anywhere,” Wayne said. “I think you should stay with us for a while.”

“Why?” I pretended not to understand.

“Didn’t your mother tell you not to go into stranger’s houses? Didn't she ever tell you about the dangers of talking to strangers?”

“Yeah, but you guys seemed nice,” I said, pretending to be still confused.

“We are really nice,” Wayne said, tugging on one of my braids. “But we have some people we want you to meet later who will be a lot nicer,” he laughed.

The other man told me to be very still. “I’m not going to hurt you, but I need to make sure you don’t have anything with you,” he said.

He lifted up my shirt and felt around my bra. “You have nice breasts for a young girl.”

I fought him to put my shirt back down. “Stop, please.”

He let go of my shirt and pulled up my skirt. Satisfied, he let it drop.

Wayne got my cell phone out of my purse. He looked at my contacts, which were a bunch of made-up names.

He pried the back off of the phone to pull out the SIM card. Then, he dropped the phone on the floor and smashed it.

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